Author Archives: Jon Waldron

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About Jon Waldron

Running and Racing have been important parts of my life for as long as I can remember. I ran Track and Cross Country at Amherst HS, back in the day, and am proud to have been training and competing with the Cambridge Sports Union (CSU) for more than thirty years. If my bones hold out, I hope to continue for another thirty. Sixteen years ago, I began coaching, first as an Asst. Coach at Newton North HS in Newton, MA, and for the past ten years, as Head Track and Cross Country Coach at Concord Academy in Concord, Massachusetts. I've been writing about running for almost as long as I've been running, dating back to high school, when I would write meet summaries for the Amherst Record for about $0.33 per column inch. I've been blogging about running since 2005, and began blogging at "the runner eclectic" in 2014. Until recently I also had a day job, working full-time as a Technical Product Manager for Nuance Communications, based in Burlington, MA. But I am now on what might turn out to be a permanent sabbatical. Thank you for reading my blog, and please consider leaving a comment.

Japan Journal: Notes of a Shy Traveler

“Churches and trains They all look the same to me now They shoot you some place While we ache to come home somehow” – Gregory Alan Isakov, Amsterdam

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Japan Journal: Race Day

Ojiyama Stadium, Otsu, Japan — Start of the Biwako Mainichi Marathon — March 5, 2017 In the audio, you can hear me say that 77 seconds (for the first 400) is “2:12:30 pace…” It is actually about 2:14:30 pace. This miscalculation had … Continue reading

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Japan Journal: Final Preparations

Elite athlete interviews prior to Saturday’s technical meeting for foreign athletes I suspect that some of my readers — those who have patiently endured my travelogue so far — have not been distracted, nor have they forgotten that the reason I … Continue reading

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Japan Journal: Tōkyō

Panoramic view of Tokyo from Tokyo Skytree (Wikipedia) In retrospect, I’m really glad I decided to purchase a Japan rail pass. That document, which is sold only to foreign tourists on temporary visits to the country, offers nearly unlimited travel on … Continue reading

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Japan Journal: Kyōtō

Gate at Nishi Hongan-ji temple, central Kyoto Ah, Kyoto, city of temples and trains, ancient capital city and elegant modern metropolis, surrounded on three sides by mountains and monks; home to three million strangers and Samaritan to one stressed-out American … Continue reading

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Japan Journal: Hiroshima

The former Hiroshima Prefectural Commercial Exhibition Hall, designed by Czech architect Jan Letzel, and completed in April 1915. The shell of the building is now known as “The Atomic Dome.”

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Japan Journal: Runs and Workouts

The morning sun shines in Otsu. (The sign says: “In case of emergency, break through here and you can evacuate next door.”) Friday, February 24 – finally, the sun came up bright and much more cheerful in Otsu. From the … Continue reading

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Japan Journal: Arriving in Otsu

Finding my way through the narrow streets of Otsu. In Japanese, there is a word — “semai” (狭い) – that means narrow, small, or confined, as in “a confined space,” “a narrow road,” etc. When I studied Japanese, I remember … Continue reading

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Japan Journal: Up so long it looks like down to me

    I don’t need the white weather report to tell me that it is gray and rainy in Osaka. The first time I ran the Boston Marathon, I made many mistakes. Some of my mistakes were the kind of … Continue reading

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Japan Journal: Prologue

  Water spouts at the harbor welcome me to Otsu, on the shore of Lake Biwa. Tyler tells me that we first started talking about Japan back in June 2016. The original idea was for him to enter the Tokyo Marathon … Continue reading

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